Sandstorm
by CarsonRae
Summary: Sequel to Forbidden and Unforbidden Loves. Hermione has chosen once and for all, but when the Dark Mark appears in the sky and people are being recruited to each side to fight, which side will Hermione choose? And who will she lose in the process? R
1. Chapter 1

**So basically this is the sequel to Forbidden and Unforbidden Loves. Enjoy!  
I don't own Harry Potter or any of the stuff in this story except the plot.  
I, however, do own the phrase...**

**So shove that in your pipe and smoke it.**

**So to the person who replied to my author's note in the last story saying I was a douche bag for my ending to the last one, even though I am nice enough to make a story for all my disappointed fans, and using my phrase, you can go have a life, thanks.**

**Live long and prosper!  
_-CarsonRae_  
**

A blonde male hovered over a female in the Slytherin boy's dormitory. He was in the push up position, his arms bent so that he could be as close to the person below him as possible. He was shirtless, the perfect muscles of his back and arms could be seen in this predicament. The blonde hair, usually in a casual style, was very messy, as though someone had been running their hands through it. The sun shined brightly off his pale skin as he kissed the girl below him on her lips, moving to her jawbone, neck, and collarbone.

The girl could sense he was tired, and flipped them both over so she was on the top. She continued to kiss him, passion and heat with every kiss. His hands were on her slender waist, holding her hips against him as much as possible. This girl happened to be wearing an under shirt, and her lower garments, but that was it. Clothes littered the floor next to them, dress shirts, trousers, a skirt, and robes of two different colors. Her brown, wavy hair became almost a honey color as the sun shone off it. She kissed his neck, biting down a little. His hands on her hips tightened and a low growl escaped his lips. In an instant, he had flipped them back over and he was on top, kissing her with fervor. She moaned when his lips softly brushed the crook of her neck.

"I know you wanna say it," he whispered in her ear to her, his hot breath all over her neck, making her shiver.

"Draco," she whispered as he kissed her on the neck again.

"Hermione," he murmured back as he made his way back to her mouth and his lips met hers again. Her hands were on his back, her nails making soft scratches when he kissed down to her special spot on her neck.

"Draco," she whispered again and looked over to the side. She saw the time and jolted on accident.

"Oh shit!" she cried as her knee came up and hit him in his groin. A grunt came out of his mouth and he fell onto the floor, making a loud, pounding sound. Hermione went to the side of the bed and looked down at him. Draco Malfoy, her boyfriend, was spread out on the floor, his eyes shut tight in agony, his breathing irregular.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. It's just that we're gonna be late for Transfiguration, and McGonagall is gonna give us another detention if we are," Hermione said to him. He sat up and moaned in pain. Hermione was trying to find her clothing, throwing articles of the clothes littering the floor at him. Most of the clothing was his anyways. She found all the pieces to her uniform and began to put them on.

Draco, however, wasn't getting the message that they needed to leave just yet. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She stopped and turned around in his arms and smiled up at him. He had one of those smirks on his face, the ones that said that he was about to ask her to do something mischievous.

"Can't we just, I don't know, skip Transfiguration for today?" he asked. Draco already knew the answer, but he always asked anyways, hoping one day she would say yes.

"No, we can't. Because if we do, everyone will know why and they will talk. And we can't really have that can we? We have to keep a low-ish profile," Hermione said as she stood on her tip toes and kissed him. Draco was reasonably taller than her and she looked up at him. Hermione wanted badly to be able to skip so she could be with him instead, but she had her limits…and she made sure she kept them. She knew that if she skipped class to be with him, they may do something that Hermione didn't really wanna do just yet. After all, it hadn't been too long since she had chosen, yet again.

* * *

"Ron, please? We never have any…alone time…anymore," Hermione whined softly in his ear as she kissed him. The common room was packed, scarlet and yellow everywhere. The Gryffindors had just played the Ravenclaws in Quidditch and won the Quidditch Cup. Ron had improved in his Keeping skills, and she had to admit, he was pretty sexy on a broom.

"Hermione. Later. I promise," he said to her as he talked to some girl next to him. Hermione hated that. She was his girlfriend, but it seemed that they did everything on **_his_** schedule. No doubt about it, Ron was pretty busy. He had been focusing more on his N.E.W.T.s and school work to try and be better at it, and he did have Quidditch practice under Angelina every other night, but still. They never had any time.

Not wanting to be part of the celebration, Hermione quietly slipped out of the common room. She didn't really have anywhere to go anymore. The library no longer held much value to her. It was so…dreary. So, instead, she succumbed to roaming the halls.

She found herself way near the Slytherin common room. Not like common rooms mattered much anymore. Unless there was a Gryffindor celebration like there was now, usually you could find a couple people of each house in the common rooms. Even the Slytherins had let up a little bit, which was way strange. But Hermione found herself staring at the Slytherin entrance, badly hoping a certain blonde boy would come out.

Draco Malfoy. That boy hadn't talked to her in forever, and she missed him. Hermione had stomped and crushed his heart, and she had felt bad for it. But when she had tried to talk to him afterward to explain why she had picked Ron over him, he wouldn't listen. He had called her a Mudblood, and walked off. But she knew he had been crying, because the word Mudblood came out shaky. And now he ignored her.

"You know, it's kinda creepy to be just staring at someone's common room like that," a voice came from behind her. That voice, it made her heart melt on the inside and she turned around to face him. His stormy gray eyes were surveying her, almost as though they were looking deep into her soul. Probably because they were. His hair was in casual disarray, and he was in casual clothes. She wanted to cry, why had she picked Ron again? Draco was standing right in front of her, looking at her. His eyes were holding an icy stare, but she could tell there was hurt and longing behind them.

"I didn't even realize I was down here. I was just…wandering. And I guess I brought myself here," Hermione said softly. She looked down at the ground, not being able to look at the person in front of her. Her own brown eyes were staring at the stone floor, trying to burn holes or something. She knew he was still looking at her, because she could still see him standing in front of her. Emotions welled inside Hermione, she needed **_someone_**. And Ron was never there….

She saw one of his large hands come towards her. The hand lifted up her chin, surveying her face. Tears were welled in her eyes and when Draco saw that, his stormy gray eyes that had been staring into her not so long ago, melted, and care and concern were written all over his face. He didn't smile, but instead, he lifted up her chin even further and kissed her. Hermione's eyes opened wide, but it felt…right. His lips were locked with hers, and it was like they fit together perfectly like a puzzle.

Draco's left hand found her waist, while the right found her hand and he pushed her up softly against the wall. He was kissing her so much that she was dying on the inside, in a good way. Dying because she was hungering for more. And she was kissing him back. Finally she pulled away and escaped the box that he had put her into.

"Alright, gotta go break up with Ron now," she said to him. Draco walked over to her and smirked.

"I knew you wouldn't last too long," he said to her and smiled as he kissed her again and disappeared into his common room. Her heart was beating, her breathing irregular, and her hair a bit disheveled. But she didn't care. Hermione was done with Ron's crap. He didn't treat her right, and this she knew enough to know she needed to find someone else. And he had happened to be there. So perfect.

Hermione entered the common room a bit louder than she had thought about. Half the people saw her as she grabbed Ron and began to drag him up into the boy's dorms. She could hear whooping, whistling, and people betting on what would go on.

"God, Hermione, couldn't have waited?" he asked with a smirk as he came over to her. He placed his hands on her waist and tried to kiss her. However, he got a reaction he didn't really expect. She wiggled out from his grasp and sat on Harry's bed, pointing Ron to sit on his own across from her. She didn't think she could bear sitting next to him when she told him what she was about to tell him.

"Ron, I'm really sorry, but this…us…it isn't working. It's like I'm dating my brother," Hermione said as she looked down at the ground. That was a lie, a part of her would always love Ron, and he was definitely not a brother to her, but, it had to be done. She felt bad, for breaking his heart. It was almost as though she could hear the cracking of it from where she was, and it was paining her.

"You're breaking up with me?" he asked, his voice so small. Ron had grown up so much, she hadn't noticed how much until she looked up at him and saw him reduced to...well whatever was in front of her. He was so big and muscular, and she had just reduced him to the child he once was with one little phrase.

"Yes. It's for the best," Hermione said to him. He came over to her, kneeling on the floor and kissed her hand and her lips, almost desperately. She sighed softly and a tear came out of her eye. This was a lot harder than she had anticipated. He kissed her on her lips, moving to her neck. For a second, she thought he was going to have her taking it all back, until he stopped. Hermione felt his breath on her neck and she pulled away.

"What's wrong?" she asked shakily.

"What's that smell?" Ron asked her. She smelled herself, it smelled like her on her arms. She didn't smell bad, she knew that for sure. Then she smelled her left hand, and realized that it was Draco. His scent was all over her and she hadn't even noticed. Ron backed away, his jaw set. He held onto her hand until he was far enough away to where it just dropped onto her thigh. He turned around towards his bed and then hit the bed post with his left hand. The mahogany wood splintered and cracked, and he lowered a now bleeding hand.

"Go, Hermione," he said to her softly, but with so much venom in his voice that it was almost dripping. At this point, Hermione knew he knew, and she went to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She felt it tense under her touch, but that wasn't going to stop her from what she was going to say.

"Ron, I'm sorry. It just happened and it was unexpected and he-" Hermione started, letting everything she wanted to say just start flowing from her mouth like a river.

"GO!" he shouted at her, turning to face her. Ron's entire face was red, his jaw was set, and there were tears and hurt in his eyes. He grabbed a towel off the drying furnace in the middle of the room and headed out the side door to the male bathrooms, slamming the wooden door behind him. The slam echoed, causing her to jump and the entire common room to hear. Hermione got up from Harry's bed and went towards the door. Turning, she examined the dorm that she had been in so many times before exiting it for the very last time.

* * *

Hermione and Ron hadn't really talked much since then. In fact, she hung out mostly with all the Slytherins, who had come to fancy her. All except Pansy, who Hermione could've cared less if she had been pushed off a cliff.

Draco finished putting on his uniform, casually as usual. When he was looking in the mirror to see how it all looked, Hermione's emotions faded and she was happy. She slipped on her skirt and her scarlet and yellow tie and grabbed her bag. She then draped the robe part of the outfit over her arm and fixed her hair, then looked at him.

"Ready yet?" she laughed as she leaned against his door. He turned towards her and kissed her neck, causing a slight moan to escape her lips.

"I am now," he smiled as he grabbed her free hand and exited out of the dorm room. Hermione and Draco came down the stairs together, smiling as they exited the common room Hermione practically called home and ran down the halls to Transfiguration.

**AN: So yeah. I promised a sequel and BAM here it is! If you were a fan of me picking Ron in the story Forbidden and Unforbidden Loves, this story probably isn't for you. However, this is to all the people who stuck with me in the end to be disappointed. So yeah, sorry guys but uh you gotta do that sometimes.  
Criticism and suggestions are welcomes. No flames please. Cause they aren't very nice, and they make an author feel bad. I'm only human!  
And part Vulcan, but SSH!**

**_-CarsonRae_  
**


	2. Chapter 2

"You're late," McGonagall's voice rang to the two people as they entered the room. Hermione's cheeks were flushed, as she had just sprinted from one end of the school to the other. Draco was leaning up against the wooden frame, glaring at the Transfiguration teacher and panting. The bell had literally sounded just as they opened the door and stepped in. They were still holding hands and the entire class was staring at them with smirks on their face. Each smirk represented something different, but most were looking at their disheveled states and thinking the same thing. The only frowns in the room could be seen from Harry and Ron, who were staring at the couple with fiery passion of hate in their eyes.

"Professor, we were in the door-" Hermione breathed effortlessly. She was normally a better runner than this, but the load of books on her back wasn't really helping her situation. She looked pathetic, but Hermione really didn't want any more detentions from this particular teacher.

Almost as if in cue, Draco took her bag and walked over to their seats. His heavy breaths had stopped as he carried both of the very heavy bags to their seats. Hermione fixed herself and began to walk over as well, defeat in her heart, but attitude on her face. While being with Draco, Hermione had adopted the Slytherin glare. The Slytherin glare was known through some of the shyer kids as the look that usually a Slytherin would give someone to make them stop looking at them. It was deadly, it had venom and ice in it, and it was accompanied by a straight face and usually a walk that told the person being glared at that they were of lesser being. And that was the look Hermione was giving almost every kid in the class.

McGonagall was too busy teaching to really care that they had walked in a couple seconds late, so she started her lesson and used her wand to make notes on the board that they were to take. Hermione wanted to learn to do that, there were so many notes and she was tired of them. It would have just been easier to wave her wand over her paper and have all the words write themselves. But they wanted the students to really comprehend the information, so they all wrote feverishly as words kept appearing on the board.

Soon, the class was done, and after kissing Hermione goodbye, Draco left to go have Charms with the Hufflepuffs. Hermione watched him go and then turned around to be face to face with Harry and Ron.

"Um, hey guys," she said to them, an eyebrow raised in question as to why they were in her personal space. Harry had a look of concern on his face, while Ron had a purely pissed off look. His eyes were blazing with hatred and they were burning holes in her soul, it seemed. It was that same look he had given her that day in the dorm room, when he had shouted at her to go.

"What now?" she asked them, crossing her arms and shifting her glance between the two of them.

"Being late for class, Hermione? Coming in looking like you just rolled out of bed? That is weird," Harry questioned, stopping Ron from speaking what he really wanted to say, which was 'This is all **_his_** fault'. But she wouldn't allow that, because it wasn't his fault. _**She**_ had been the one that had wanted to have some quality time. _**She**_ had been the one that had egged him to go on when he had pulled away. It was _**her**_ fault, and that was something she didn't think Ron could handle.

"Since when did you start caring? Ever since…well…ever since then…you haven't really spoken to me or anything. I made a choice, we all do. But that is just something you're going to have to get over whether you like it or not," Hermione replied as she shifted her bag on her shoulder.

"Now, excuse me," Hermione said, pushing her way through the two boys and walking off, her bag covering her butt and her hands clenched by her into fists. The sound of her feet stomping on the stone floor reverberated off the walls as she turned the corner to beat them to Herbology.

"I think we lost her, Ron," Harry murmured dismally.

"She'll see one day, Harry, and she'll come back," Ron responded with venom in his voice. A part of him wanted to rescue her from the nightmare she didn't realize she was in. But a bigger part of him wanted to see her suffer the pain that Draco was going to put on her when the Slytherin Sex God didn't want to play anymore. He smirked a bit to himself and walked forward to where Hermione had gone to Herbology, leaving a confused Harry in his spot until he realized Ron had walked away and ran to catch up.

_**It's not over yet.**_ Ron thought.

* * *

It was night time in Hogwarts castle. Most everywhere was quiet, from the corridors at least. Perfects of each house roamed in pairs among the halls, checking empty classrooms and such to make sure no students were having night time get-togethers in them. Two prefects, however, were nowhere to be found.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted as he walked through the corridors looking for her. He knew who she was with, but he was determined to disturb them. So he frantically searched everywhere for her, hoping he would find her before he would find her in a bad predicament.

"Why do you even bother, Weasley? You already know who she is with and that you won't find them," a small voice came from somewhere down the corridor he was walking down. Ron spun around trying to find the source of the voice, until a girl revealed herself from behind a suit of armor. It was Pansy and she appeared to have been crying. A small part of Ron felt bad for her, because she was in the same situation as he was. His fist clenched at looking at her and he looked at the ground.

"Because…I worry about her," Ron said to Pansy. It was probably the first time he had ever spoken to her in his lifetime, without throwing an insult her way or something. He knew she wasn't down here, but he didn't really make any move to go to finish his rounds and go to bed. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Draco wouldn't dare let Hermione get hurt. And as much as he wanted to find and disturb them, he knew that Hermione would be back at the Gryffindor common room tonight.

"Why are you still down here?" he asked her as he leaned against a wall, tired from walking the length of the school a couple times and from not getting enough sleep. He pinched the bridge of his nose to make sure he didn't fall asleep as she told her story.

"Draco left me down here. We were waiting down here, and then Hermione came down by herself and grabbed him and they ran off. I didn't really see where though. He told me to wait here for him. He says that a lot, but I usually never do. I end up just going to bed," Pansy shrugged as she kicked the ground for no reason. Ron nodded and looked at her.

"I think you should just head to bed. From the way they entered Transfiguration, they may be all night," Ron said sadly. He gave her a small wave and began to walk away. He already had a bad feeling about this one. Draco had been nice to Pansy once, and that got him about four years of a stalker. And now....

"Wait!" she said to him. Ron closed his eyes and sighed. _**Why did I have to open my big mouth?**_ He thought to himself. But he put on a fake smile and turned around to face her.

"Yes?" he asked her in the most polite tone he could muster. It still came out rather rude, but he was hoping she would confuse it with him being so tired, so he yawned and stretched.

"Will you walk me to my common room? It's really frightening down there at night," she asked in a small little girl's voice. He really wanted to say no, that she was old enough to handle herself, but instead he nodded and began to walk towards the dungeon area with her following him happily.

_**Sweet Jesus, what have I done?**_

* * *

It was somewhere around two in the morning. Hermione was supposed to have been done with her rounds hours ago, but she got a little…caught up. She found Draco irresistible, and he knew it as well as her. Some nights he would meet her down in one of the abandoned corridors and they would run off to the Room of Requirement to be alone for a bit. They never got any farther than a pretty intense make out session, but having that time alone was worth it. Usually clothes were discarded, but nothing undergarment wise. Surprisingly, he had a lot more self control than girls in Slytherin gave him. Hell, she knew he wasn't 'pure' anymore, but he was willing to wait for her, which what was really counted.

The Fat Lady wasn't too happy about being woken up at two in the morning, but her being sleepy helped Hermione's cause of sneaking into the common room. The portrait swung open slowly, not making that annoying creaky noise that it did when it swung open fast, and then shut behind her just as quietly. It would have been perfect, had not someone been sitting next to the fire, staring right at the opening. Hermione was about to just ignore it, until she saw fiery red hair and a strong muscular body in the chair.

_**Busted....**_

"You know, can't this wait till tomorrow? Are you gonna get all prefect-y on me now?" Hermione asked as she flopped down on the couch, covering her eyes from the bright fire light with her arm. She let out a long, contented sigh, but never heard him move.

"Spit it out, Ronald," she said to him a bit irritated.

"What have you done to yourself? Look at you, Hermione! Sneaking in at two in the morning! Running off during your Prefect duties with **_him_**? What _**happened**_ to you?!" Ron shouted at her.

"What happened to _**me**_? Do you know how much I work my ass off every year? I do more classes than about 95% of the school, and get better grades than about 97% of the school! I do my Prefect duties almost _**every**_ night. I _**deserve**_ some fun! And he's there for me, more than you _**ever**_ were!" Hermione shouted at him.

"Oh, so he was **_there _**for you when he was calling you a filthy Mudblood for four years?! And you know I was busy with school and Quidditch and-" Ron started until Hermione crossed the distance and smacked him so hard in the face that he was quiet. She then backed up again, just in case.

"Don't you _**dare**_ even go there, Ronald. You know that's all in the past. You **_know _**he's changed, as much as you don't want to admit it. You know he would **_never_** hurt me. And Draco has more classes than you, more homework, Prefect duties, Quidditch, _**and**_ studying, yet he**_ STILL_** has time for me! So you can't even use that excuse!" Hermione shouted to him.

"You just never cared enough to see what was right in front of you. And now you're pissed off that you lost her to someone you hate more than anything. Well, it's time to get over it," Hermione whispered to him, her eyes dropping to the ground.

"You think I never cared enough about you? Do you _**really**_ think that?" he asked her, closing the distance and lifting up her head to look at him.

"If you cared about me, you would just accept that I'm happy," Hermione murmured, pushing herself out of his arms and walking towards the dorms.

"Just let it go. Let **_me_** go," she whispered to him so softly that it was almost inaudible to his ears and ran up the stone steps to her room, leaving him standing in the common room, alone and heartbroken. Ron sat down in the chair and did something he never expected he would do. He cried for Hermione Granger.

**AN: Yeah! So I know I just posted the first chapter not too long ago, but I couldn't help it! I also wanna get as much out as I can just in case I get bored of the story. I don't like to leave my readers hanging. It's very frowny face. So yeah, please review!  
Peace out!**

**_-CarsonRae_  
**


	3. Chapter 3

"No way, Hermione," Draco said his mouth wide open. They were in the Slytherin common room, as usual. If Hermione had ever brought Draco into the Gryffindor common room, a mob probably would have burned them both alive. The green and silver hangings were all around them, giving the room a spooky green glow to it. However, Hermione thought this more of home than she did of the warm Gryffindor atmosphere. Hermione was sitting on the floor, her essay for Arithmancy class in front of her. Draco was sitting across from her, his Study of Ancient Runes and Astronomy homework taking up most of the table. This was something she was very fond of for Draco for. Ron would never have been able to sit with her and do homework. Plus, Draco challenged her intellectually, and they would usually get into some argument about a fact, which was fun for her, especially since she usually beat him.

"Why not, Draco? It would relieve some of the stress you are feeling," Hermione said as she scribbled another thought onto her outline parchment. She knew he was stressed from the way he was snapping the books closed and throwing them open. He did have a lot on his plate, but Hermione was glad of it. He had another life besides her, he wasn't clingy. It made being with Draco more fun and unpredictable.

"That's a crazy way to relieve stress," he said to her, raising an eyebrow and putting his silver quill in his ink bottle. He rubbed his temple and sighed as she set her own quill into her ink bottle.

"I can't believe I am even considering this," he murmured. She crossed the room and sat by him on the couch seductively. Hermione kissed him on the lips, holding his face, and then traveled down his neck to the spot on his collarbone that made him go crazy.

"Do it for me?" she asked him in the cutest voice she could muster, which wasn't too hard for her. Draco usually thought everything Hermione did was cute in some fashion. He moaned a bit as she kissed his collarbone again and she could feel his heart beat start speeding up.

"What will he think about this?" Draco sarcastically asked as she continued kissing him, pressing him into the couch a bit so that he was on his back and she was hovering over him. Hermione knew that with a couple more kisses, he would easily give in to her wishes.

"I think he will like it. Ron would really appreciate it, I'm hoping," Hermione said to him and kissed him again on the lips, letting her brown, apple scented hair fall near his face. Draco put his hands on her hips and sat them both up, kissing her in the process. He then pulled away and tucked an excess hair behind her ear and a soft smile appeared on his lips.

"Alright, I'll do it. Just…don't torture me anymore with your damn kissing," he said to her and she kissed him quick on the lips as a thank you before hopping off the couch and returning to her place on the floor.

"Well, what do I say, then? 'Hey, sorry I kinda stole your girlfriend and stuff but I want us to be friends, Ron. Whaddaya say?' Doesn't exactly roll of the tongue," Draco said as he looked at her with a worried look on his face.

"I don't know, just say that it means a lot to me that you two are friends and since it means a lot to me, it means a lot to you and that it's time to put aside your differences and be friends," Hermione said to him, not taking her eyes off of the essay she had begun to write. Draco watched her as she wrote; she was positively beautiful when she was working. She was wearing a pair of his green boxers as shorts, the pair he hadn't worn yet and she had stolen, and a scarlet Gryffindor tank top. The colors clashed, but still. She had her hair off to one side, and some of it tucked behind her right ear. She was leaning against the table on her left elbow as she wrote, her hand playing with her hair. Her eyes scanned the page as she wrote, examining every single letter as she wrote it.

She finally looked up at him and smiled.

"What?" Hermione asked with a smile on her face. Draco smiled softly and returned to his work, shaking his head.

_**She's perfect. **_he thought to himself with a soft smile. Hermione noticed and dropped her gaze back to her paper with a smirk on her face. She moved her hair a bit more so her neck was exposed, teasing him. He was about to go over to her and kiss her to death. It was hot when Hermione was teasing him.

"Hermione!" a small voice came from the girl's dorm, ruining their moment. Not many of the girls in Slytherin spoke with her, especially since many of them were Pansy's friends and Pansy was still upset about Hermione taking Draco from her. When she hung out with the Slytherins, it was mostly all guys, and maybe Ginny. Hermione didn't mind at all, she got along better with males anyways.

Confused, Hermione turned herself around to see none other than Pansy coming towards her. Hermione thought there was going to be a fight or something and automatically tensed up. Obviously, so did Draco because when he heard the voice, he dropped his quill on his paper, causing a giant ink spot.

"Damn it!" he shouted as he tried to remember the spell to get rid of it.

"_Tergeo_," Hermione muttered at his paper and he looked at her with a thanks. However she was looking at Pansy, who had just plopped down next to her. She was smiling at Hermione though, and this frightened her a bit. Pansy **_never_** smiled at Hermione. For a while, she wondered if Pansy was even **_capable _**of smiling.

"Hey, Pansy," Hermione said slowly, giving Draco a shifty look. "Um, what's up?"

"Nothing, really. I was just wondering…is Ron dating anyone?" Pansy asked her, her eyes full of eagerness. Hermione's eyes grew wide and she looked at Draco, who was looking down at his paper, suppressing his laughter by biting his knuckles and writing very fast. Hermione's eyes narrowed at him as he looked up at her with a smirk, giving her the 'you're-on-your-own-with-this-one' look. She turned her head back to Pansy, who was still waiting patiently for her answer.

"Ronald Weasley? My Ron?" she asked her. Pansy frowned a bit at the phrase of 'my Ron' and dropped her gaze to floor. However, she nodded, which surprised Hermione more than anything. Pansy and Ron, no way!

"Oh, I didn't mean it as though he's mine. I just meant the Ron I used to hang out with. But, no, I don't believe he is dating anyone," Hermione said to her. Pansy automatically lit up and looked at Hermione with that smile again. She rose to her feet, but didn't take her eyes off Hermione just yet.

"Thanks, Hermione. That's all I wanted to know," Pansy said and she began to walk off towards the portrait hole.

"Wait! Pansy," Hermione started. As much as she was mad at Ron for being cruel to her, she couldn't let him do this by himself. Pansy spun around happily and tilted her head as she looked at Hermione. Hermione liked this Pansy, she was more fun and exuberant.

"Go easy on him, okay? He's really shy, and he doesn't want you to cling on him all the time. Go slow, he may come around," Hermione said with a soft smile. Pansy nodded and practically skipped out into the corridors.

"Babe, do you think that was a good idea? I mean, look at them. Polar opposites," Draco asked her once the portrait hole closed and Pansy was gone. Hermione looked up at him and smiled.

"If someone had told you two years ago I'd be sitting in your common room, wearing your boxers and doing homework with you as my boyfriend, would you have believed them?" she replied to him. Draco smiled and nodded.

"Point taken," he replied as he shoved his homework into their appropriate books and laid back with his arm over his eyes to block out the light. Hermione smiled and began to pack up her things, knowing he was too tired to do anything else tonight. She hadn't been at the Gryffindor common room in a couple days anyways, since her and Ron had had that fight. She couldn't really bear to face him, but now it was time to face the music. Draco was falling asleep; his chest was rising and falling slower and slower. Hermione walked over to him and put on her Crocs, then bent down and kissed him lovingly on the lips.

"I need to go to my common room. Meet me by the Great Hall tomorrow, and we'll face him together," Hermione said. He took his arm off his face to look at her and kissed her on the cheek then laid back down and drifted off. Hermione smiled and bit down on her lip a bit, then quietly slipped out into the corridors.

* * *

  
The next morning, Hermione waited impatiently for Draco at the entrance to the Great Hall. Every once in a while, she would peek her head around the corner to see if Ron was still busy eating, talking, or reading, and was momentarily relieved to find that he was. She knew he would be at the table for a while, having been his friend for so long, but she couldn't help it. Hermione Granger found herself nervous.

Finally, a pair of pale, large hands with long fingers slid around her waist and kissed her neck. Usually this would have made her melt, but not this morning. That uncomfortable knot in her stomach was getting increasingly bigger and she turned around to face him.

"We should just go, this is a bad idea," she said to him as she headed away from the Great Hall, trying to pull him along. He walked a bit, but then went ahead of her and put his hand up to stop her from walking any further. Hermione's brown eyes looked up at him, her nervousness was apparent in her gaze. He kissed her and then grabbed her hand and began to walk right into the Great Hall.

Everyone in the hall knew something was about to go down. Usually, the couple walked on the side of the Slytherin table that was farthest away from the Gryffindor table, because sometimes Ginny would come talk to her or something and that's just usually where they sat. But today, they walked in the aisle between the two tables and then stopped in front of Ron. Ron was facing them and he swallowed what was in his mouth and looked at the two of them. The hall went dead quiet, and even Draco felt the nervousness rising in him.

"Can we talk?" he questioned curtly, staring right at Ron. Ron's glance shifted from Draco to Hermione and back. Hermione stood there; almost cowering like a frightened puppy, hoping Ron wouldn't launch himself across the table and start with the beating. Instead, with a straight face, Ron nodded and began to walk down to door of the Great Hall. Draco gave a reassuring smile to Hermione, kissed her cheek, and followed Ron out of the hall.

"I hope you didn't just start a bloodbath," Ginny said from her spot at the Slytherin table. She had started dating Blaise, something Ron hadn't been too fond of, but Ron had already had his talk with him. Blaise looked up at her, and she could tell he was panicked as well. The hall was still quiet until she looked around and everyone began to whisper excitedly about what was going to happen outside.

"Me too Ginny, me too," Hermione said as the boys disappeared from everyone's sight.

**AN: I know, two chapters in one day! I just can't help myself. It's summer vacay and I'm bored. Kinda what happens when you're in a small argument with your boyfriend and your best friend is on his Xbox. (I have dork friends, I know)  
I'm going to try and post as much as I can, too keep you guys happy and myself from going crazy with boredom.  
Cause only boring people are bored, and I am NOT a boring person!  
Hope you guys are liking it so far. R&R as usual please!**

**_-CarsonRae_  
**


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